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Northeast states to develop new emissions standards

Bloomberg News

10:26 PM EST, January 6, 2009

New York and 10 other Northeastern U.S. states have agreed to develop new standards for low-carbon fuels burned in car and truck engines to help reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide, the main gas blamed for global warming.

The states may try to run more vehicles on biofuels, fuels made from plants, and on electricity, according to a statement on the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection Web site.

"After power generation, transportation is the next logical target for reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions," Environmental Commissioner Laurie Burt said in the statement.

The states, excluding Pennsylvania, already cooperate on a program to limit CO2 from fossil fuel-burning power plants. Companies generating electricity from coal and natural gas must have a permit for every ton of carbon they pump into the sky as part of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Inc., or RGGI, the first U.S. market for emissions allowances. The states through RGGI aim to reduce global-warming gases by 10 percent by 2019.

Cars and trucks contribute about a fifth of the world's output of heat-trapping CO2. U.S. states, led by California, are enacting rules to cut pollution to improve air quality and slow climate change. The federal government has failed to pass national legislation to limit emissions of gases that spawn the so-called greenhouse effect which holds heat close to the earth's surface.

The United States has no international restrictions on greenhouse gases, having never ratified the Kyoto Protocol. The United States and China are world's largest greenhouse gas producers.

President-elect Barack Obama has pledged to increase clean-energy spending by $15 billion a year. Some of the money may come from an economic stimulus bill planned early this year that's intended to back wind, solar and biofuels technologies, improve energy efficiency and create "green" jobs.

The group of states are required to draw up a plan for a regional low carbon fuel standard by the end of December. Emphasis will be focused on biofuels that do not result in changes in land use or diversion of resources from food crops, the statement said.